Washed Away
by Alan Spencer
Summary: A teenage boy gets dropped into the PMMM universe. Stranded, alone, the only tool he has to survive is his knowledge. Meanwhile, the clock keeps on ticking towards a bleak ending.
1. Part 1

**Washed Away**

I woke up.

Okay, maybe woke wasn't the right word. One second there was darkness, and the next I was standing in some place else. I got disoriented, my vision swayed and I narrowly stopped my fall by extending my hand towards anything that would serve as support. The hand found the wall. Of the ally. Because, yes, it was alley. Not my bedroom. And I didn't recognize whenever I was.

I lived in the same city during all my life, so I knew it inside up. Mostly. But what I was seeing beyond the alley didn't look even remotely familiar. Not remotely familiar of anything I have ever seen in my city, that's it, because the, well, everything looked clearly Asian. Which was even crazier. I was an American. It was crazy enough that I went to sleep on my own bed, in my pyjamas and wake up the next day clothed and in the middle of some alley, let alone that it was in some Asian city.

...It didn't feel like a dream, but this was just too crazy to be real. So I suppose I should start checking. I tried to open my eyes, to woke up. No dice. I didn't even feel any different. So, instead, I tried to will my self to fly. Nothing happened then, either. It just made me waste a couple of minutes.

I tried to do some calculations. Things like logic didn't tend to hold on well in dreams, so I shouldn't be able to do even basic calculations easily. Or so I thought. I read that in some book once, and it would have be wrong, or I could have misremembered. Either way, I tried. The answers came easily. Okay, not problem. That didn't necessarily meant anything. One last test. I dug a nail into the palm of one hand, hard.

It hurt like a bitch. Very nearly squealed.

I couldn't wake up no matter how hard I tried, could control the dream, could calculate easily and it hurt like hell. Also, everything in general just felt real. There was no way this could be a dream. I started to hyperventilate. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, released it. Now wasn't the time to panic.

This wasn't a dream. So… what was it? I didn't remember getting in accident or something, so coma dream was out. Maybe. I couldn't be sure of that, since I never really learned much about the subject.

Kidnapped? No, that was stupid. Who was going to kidnap me, dress me in my own clothes and then drop in some alley completely unattended? Unless they had gone to do whatever, and they had left me there because it wasn't supposed to take them long and I wasn't supposed to wake up. Could be. Could. Technically, though it was highly improbable. Either way, I wasn't sticking around to find out.

I briskly walked away, and tried to find a police station. I didn't know a lick of Japanese-random words learned because of copious anime watching didn't count-, but there had to be somebody who understood English in the police station. They could help me get out of this mess, and someday this all would be just a bad memory. Yes, I have to believe that. I have to believe that or I… I don't know what I do.

As I walked, I tried to locate myself. To find some sort of landmark. That only applied to cities were famous enough, of course, because I didn't knew enough to know something which could be considered a landmark to the locals, but that didn't really matter. I wasn't doing this to locate myself. I was just trying to distract me from my own thoughts.

I froze.

I think I even stopped breathing. Right there, on the other side of the road. A group of girls crossing the street. Those uniforms… they were the uniforms from Mitakihara's Middle School. I could recognize that anywhere. There really was no mistake.

A sudden dizziness assaulted me. I brought one hand to my forehead, and tried to steady my breathing. No way. There was no way it was like… like the wild wanderings of my mind. Mitakihara didn't exist. It was only a fictional place from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Then again, those uniforms shouldn't exist, either. But they could be cosplayers… maybe.

Or maybe those two girls which looked like Madoka and Sayaka and Hitomi were Madoka and Sayaka and Hitomi.

They turned the corner.

"Wait..." I helplessly held out a hand towards them, not really sure of what to do or say or what I was pretending to gain from this. But of course, they didn't heard me. They were long gone, at this point, at the streets were really busy. They couldn't have heard me over all this noise, not from such a distance.

That was when I realized. That single wait that had come out of my lips had be in Japanese.

That… that wasn't so strange. Everybody slipped, and I knew that word, of course. Any anime fan did. But something, a feeling in my chest, made me move out of the crowd and into a nearby alley. I turned my back, and whispered to myself one of my favourite poems. Annabel Lee. And I heard it clearly, in perfect Japanese. I didn't even know a lick of Japanese, let alone enough to say one of my favourite poems on the fly in it. Moreover, I thought of saying it in English.

I said some other things to myself, and they all came up in Japanese. No matter what. That was when my disillusion shattered.

This was Mitakihara. And those girls who had be going on their way to school were Madoka, Sayaka and Hitomi. They were clearly recognizable, even though they looked like normal people and not anime characters. Which meant that this was the universe of Madoka Magica. Which mean that I was irremediably fucked, one way or another.

First of all, I was a no person here. That kind of thing wasn't exactly uncommon, but it didn't change that it would make my life harder. And second, this was _Madoka Magica._ Every second I was spending here, walking around, I was risking getting ensnared by some Eldritch Abomination and disappear forever. Also, if this was Mitakihara, and this was during the time line of the series as it seemed, then Walpurgis Night would be coming to destroy everything in about a month and half.

I felt tears streaming down my face. Why? Why had this happened, why me? Why did I do to deserve ending up in such a universe? I had never done anything wrong. I was a good, studious kid. I had never stole something, or killed somebody or committed any sort of crime.

My hands clenched into fists, and I uselessly slammed them against the wall of the alley until it hurt so much it felt like it was burning. At least, the pain had cooled my head a little. Crying, kicking and screaming like a toddler wouldn't do anything to change my situation. I had one thing. Knowledge of what was going to happen, and I had to use it.

Assuming this was the beginning of the series, there were only two real choices. Mami and Homura were the only two people who could help me, and also the only two girls I could be sure which were already Puella Magi that I could get in contact with as a no person without money. The only question was, who of the two would be the best choice?

With that in mind, I…

 **1.** Go look for Mami.

 **2.** Go look for Homura.

 **3.** Get to the police station to seek help, and just try to forget this.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Voting will remain open for three days.


	2. Part II

**Author's Note**

This as be moved to SB, and will be posted here as a no interactive story. So don't vote.

* * *

 **Part II**

Mami.

That kind hearted, strong blonde girl, who had more experience that anybody in the cast, save for Homura. She was one of my favourite characters of the show. I didn't take that into account, because that would be stupid and this wasn't a show anymore, but she was truly my best bet. If I went ahead to Homura, things would be harder for me. Sure, she was more experienced. But she was as likely to help me as she was to manhandle me to get her answers and then get rid of me. Okay, maybe it wasn't that likely, but still, there was that danger. I don't like danger.

But if I went to Mami for help, she wouldn't hurt me. Wouldn't. Not if I wasn't a clear, immediate danger, and even then, she would find hard to kill another human being. Yeah, is canon that she kills Kyoko in the third timeline, but those were extenuating circumstances. She wouldn't do that at this point, and I would ensure she didn't have no reason to act like that.

There was the matter of her death at Charlotte's hands, mouth. Sure, she survived in a few timelines, but that doesn't guarantee she survived in anything but the timeline of the show. A similar situation could easily happen, or that careless created because of finally having friends could meant her death against another Witch. Besides, that Homura was trying to stop Mami in the third episode implies that it was a fairly common thing for her to die right there.

But I could stop it. I couldn't be in the Witch barrier to tell her to get a grip… well, I could, maybe, if that was my only choice, but I wouldn't like it at all. Anyway, I probably wouldn't be there to tell her to get a grip, but I could tell her my concerns about it before that. I would make a little show, cry, hug her, beg her to be careful, that I didn't want her to die. She would definitively listen to me. And if I had any doubts… I would have to go with her, make sure she did it. There was a low chance she would actually listen to me, because deep down inside, Mami was a lonely, traumatized little girl and would more that likely forget all I said in her euphoric rush once she befriended Madoka and Sayaka. So it looked like I would have to go, regardless of my misgivings.

In the end, though, that was a small problem. Mami was strong. In Rebellion, she could have killed even Homura, so siding with her was my best bet. If I could ensure myself her protection I could actually survive this nightmare. Not just from Walpurgis Night, but also from the other Witches and their familiars. She couldn't throw me away, because I would be her friend. At least, I could be sure of that. Her strength, and the knowledge I could give her could ensure my survival if I played my cards right.

I would to start all over again when Homura time looped, go through all that careful effort again, but… it was what it was. It didn't change that she was my best choice and, in any case, if this wasn't the series, then maybe I could change things. I could stop Homura's time looping right here. That was necessary so the Law Of Cycles would be born, so that Puella Magi would have their burdened eased, but that ended in Rebellion. Even if Devil Homura would be defeated, which was something I could not be sure about since Urobutcher hadn't wrote that yet, it wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

And at the end of the day, I'm only human. Only a boy. I'm powerless, and even with foreknowledge I can only do so much. I can only do what I can to survive and not do anything unnecessary, especially not anything that could get me easily killed.

Question was, how to find her?

I knew where Mami's apartment was thanks to the PSP game. Approximately, anyway. I could go stumbling around in that direction, hoping to find her apartment and wait for her there. No, wait. It was easy to forget in this whole mess, but I had seen Madoka, Sayaka and Hitomi turning the corner. They had the school uniforms, and it was morning, so the school should be in the direction they are going. I had at least a concrete direction, and since I couldn't actually read Japanese. I at least had more indication of where the school was, so I should head there.

With that mind, I went out of the alley, turned the corner they had turned and started walking, hoping to find the school. I could always ask around if I got loss, since I could speak Japanese. While I walked, my thoughts wandered a little, and I realized I was essentially planning of taking advantage of a girl of my age, desperate for companionship. But… what else could I do? I genuinely liked her as a person, so that I would be clinging to her for survival wasn't as dishonest as it could be. Besides, it was only natural. I hadn't nothing. Nothing at all. And I didn't want to die. So I would have to shallow my guilt and hesitation and just do what I had to do.

It took me about an hour to reach the school, even though I asked around and everything. Of course, when I came the school gates were already closed. I bit my lip. This… I was hoping to catch her in the morning rush. I would have be more convenient, but of course, this was Madoka Magica. Convenience only worked to fuck up your life.

I…

 **[ ]** Wait for her here, at the gates.

 **[ ]** Climb inside. Is not like they can actually arrest me, anyway.

 **[ ]** Try to get to her apartment before school is over. Since I have a few hours of time, it shouldn't be too hard.


End file.
